


rin+cafe

by lethargicProfessor



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Cooking Lessons, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:21:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24205837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethargicProfessor/pseuds/lethargicProfessor
Summary: Izumo has to admit, the setup in the kitchen is visually stunning.The fact that it’s Okumura’s kitchen and not something on her Instagram feed is only a little grating.
Relationships: Kamiki Izumo & Moriyama Shiemi, Kamiki Izumo & Okumura Rin, Kamiki Izumo & Paku Noriko, Moriyama Shiemi & Okumura Rin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 64





	rin+cafe

**Author's Note:**

> Menu Item: Dalgona Coffee  
> Difficulty: Easy

Izumo has to admit, the setup in the kitchen is visually stunning.

Cute round bowls with cat prints in pink and blue on the side, pristine balloon whisks balanced neatly on two matching containers with sugar and coffee set front and center of the countertop, framed by delicate glass mugs. If she didn’t know any better, she would have said it was the opening to any influencer’s at home kitchen.

The fact that it’s Okumura’s kitchen and not something on her Instagram feed is only a little grating. 

Moriyama clearly doesn’t think so though, as she and Paku gasp appreciatively. Okumura beams, tying an apron on with practiced ease. “You guys ready to do this then?”

“Yeah!” Moriyama cheers, and Paku echoes her a second later, nudging Izumo right between the ribs.

Huffing, Izumo sighs and rubs the spot to ease the sting. “I guess so.”

Undeterred, Okumura whistles and slides over the bowls, keeping one for himself. “Honestly, this is going to be one of the easiest things we try! It’s just gonna take a little muscle.” He flexes as if to prove a point, grinning when the girls laugh.

“Thank you again for teaching us, Rin!” Moriyama says, and slides her bowl close. Her apron’s on skewed, and the ties are too loose at the back, but she looks so excited to start Izumo doesn’t have to heart to correct her.

She ignores the bright blush rising on Okumura’s face – everyone knows he’s moved on from Moriyama, but it seems he can’t help himself sometimes – in favor of tying off her own apron. Paku helps with the ties at the back, and Izumo returns the favor.

Clapping slightly, Okumura puffs up and grabs a tablespoon from behind the counter, stopping to grab a couple more for the girls. “Alright! First thing to remember is that this recipe is one to one to one. That means that all the measurements are going to be equal.”

He unscrews the lid off the coffee, the warm scent wafting out to fill the room. Izumo watches as he takes a heaping spoonful before leveling it out with his finger, dumping it into the bowl, followed quickly by another of coffee and two of sugar. 

A kettle they hadn’t noticed is quickly set on the table, and Okumura pours the still steaming water into one of the glasses. “It doesn’t have to be boiling, but you wanna dissolve the coffee before getting into the good part.”

Grabbing a whisk, he tilts the bowl and begins whipping the watery brown coffee mixture, the rhythmic tapping of the whisk against ceramic the only sound for a couple of minutes. Okumura glances up every so often, stopping to scrape the whisk against the sides of the bowl so casually it’s almost like it’s second nature. Izumo would even dare say he looks more comfortable here in the kitchen than anywhere else.

“If you wanna do this at home, you probably could do it with a hand mixer,” he says, and slides the bowl closer for the girls to see the coffee’s started to turn a soft tan, thick enough to hold it’s shape for a second before sinking back into the mass. “Doing it by hand takes longer, but it’s kinda fun.”

“Wow, Okumura,” Paku smiles, pulling the coffee container close to begin the process herself. “You could have a cooking show or something like that, you know?”

“You’d be really great at it!” Moriyama nods, taking the whisk in her bowl and brandishing it triumphantly. “If you can teach us, you could teach anyone!”

Okumura flushes bright red, the whisk losing its rhythm for a second before he recovers. “Thanks, guys. That means a lot!” 

Izumo takes the tablespoon after Moriyama’s finished, staring at the crumbly grains of coffee and sugar, then at the whipped mousse in Okumura’s bowl. “It doesn’t look so hard.”

The girls get to work, Okumura setting his finished dalgona coffee in the center of the table as an example. Ten minutes in, Izumo’s wrist is stiff and her earlier declaration tastes more bitter than the coffee in the bowl. 

“Why doesn’t it look like yours?” She asks, glaring at the still watery mix. It has changed colors, lightening slightly from the muddy brown it started off as, but it’s nowhere near the thick mix Okumura made.

Glancing at Paku and Moriyama, it doesn’t look like they’re having much luck either. Moriyama’s is darker than Izumo’s, though she’s whisking aggressively enough to send some splatter across the table. Paku’s is slightly better, but still has streaks of darker brown bits that she’s sure aren’t supposed to be there.

“Let’s see.” Okumura wipes up the mess Moriyama’s made with a dishrag, humming. “Oh, this is easy to fix, you added a little too much water, so why don’t you add one more tablespoon of sugar and coffee, alright?”

Determined, Moriyama nods and takes the containers while Okumura moves on to Paku. “You’re doing great! You might want to add a little more water to finish dissolving the bits of coffee that are left, but don’t give up!”

Izumo braces herself for criticism as he tugs her bowl closer, moving aside to let Paku reach for the glass of water. “Hey! You’re doing really good, Izumo!”

“It still doesn’t look like yours,” Izumo bites, stirring the whisk through the sludge at the bottom of her bowl.

“But you’re getting there already,” Okumura insists, grinning cheerfully. “When you whisk, try tilting the bowl a little, alright? And whisk with your other hand if you need a break.”

Huffing and hoping her cheeks aren’t red, Izumo does as he’s suggested, finding the angle’s a little easier to manage. The whisks continue clicking, and Okumura leaves them only to return with ice and a carton of milk.

“You’re almost there!” He begins setting ice into the glasses, pouring the milk three-quarters of the way up the glass. With a hum, he takes the coffee he made and begins to gather it with the whisk, dropping dollops into his glass. It’s like whipped cream, floating gently above the layer of milk as Okumura twirls the whisk to leave a soft curled peak right on top.

Despite her attempts, Izumo’s looks sloppy. The coffee’s stuck to the side of her glass, and though it’s floating, it’s thick and syrupy compared to Okumura’s. Moriyama’s is at least two shades darker than everyone else’s coffee, and as she takes an experimental lick from the bowl she quickly pulls a face. Paku’s coffee is firmly in the middle, smiling sheepishly at the look Izumo gives her. 

Okumura though, smiles widely and gives them all a round of applause, stirring his coffee slowly. “Look at that! You guys did it!”

Shiemi looks as proud as can be, clapping her hands together. “They look great!”

“It could be better,” Izumo says, but can’t help but feel a little proud at the praise. Even if they are just being nice.

(And really, the coffee’s not bad at all. They even get a taste of Okumura’s, and there’s hardly a difference, so maybe they didn’t do as badly as she thought. Maybe next time Okumura offers to teach them to cook, she’ll come by again.)


End file.
